Race report from Elspeth racing her first Ironman 70.3 of the season in sunny Majorca ☀️ (featuring honorary member Abbie).

☀️⛰️ Majorca 70.3 – finish time 5:33:53 ⛰️☀️

☀️ Majorca 70.3 Swim – 34:45 ☀️

The water was 18 degrees, crystal clear and pan flat. Perfect. Was great seeing the pros start too!

I’ve spent a lot of time working on my swimming over the winter (Mainly not out of choice due to the foot break in Jan). I really wanted to swim PB at this event and I went and did that, taking 2:45 off my previous time ???? !

I didn’t enjoy the swim all that much, I found it hard to get into a rhythm and a number of collisions meant my watch stopped twice (I noticed the first time about half way around), meaning I didn’t really know how I was getting on for the whole rest of the race.

Pros

• I can do a sea swim if I have to
• I handle mass swimming quite well and don’t get put off by collisions as much as I thought I would
• My sighting has def improved
• I feel good swimming and ready for Austria in this respect
• Swimming for as long as possible is def quicker than trying to run in the sea

Cons

• I just hate the taste you get in your mouth after sea swimming. It lingered the whole rest of the race. Maybe I need to have some Coke in transition – IDK
• I’m really cautious of running bare foot when you can’t see what’s beneath you. Maybe even more so since my foot break. Therefore not the fastest entry into the water.

I always said I would never do a sea swim event, yet here we are. Beautiful location. Chuffed with my progress and when looking at AG stats, actually technically my best performance of the day!

⛰️☀️Majorca 70.3 – Bike – 3:02:40 ☀️⛰️

Pros

• First 70.3 on the TT bike ☑️
• Stunning course, overtaking a lot, but also only overtaken by one female the whole way round.
• Managed to pick up 3 bottles and top up my hydration system with no dramas
• Cool bike pics

Cons

• Overall my slowest 70.3 bike time, but given the elevation ⛰️, that was so be expected. Would have liked to have been nearer the 3 hour mark.
• I almost forgot I was in a ‘race’ about 3/4 of the way round and should have pushed/overtaken more

☀️ Majorca 70.3 – Run – 1:47:29 ☀️

I can’t quite believe my run time. I broke my foot in Jan and have done the least amount of running in years with 8 weeks off because of the break and then a further 2 weeks because of my bike accident.

I had hoped to run PB despite the above and to do that i had in mind that I needed to try and stay under 8:30 per mile. When I started out I could see I was doing about 8:00 and decided to tone it down in view of the ‘long game’. It paid off.

Pros

• 7 minute 70.3 run PB
• My first blister free half marathon
• Consistent ish pacing – despite it being a lapped course, I didn’t get tempted to stick with the people lapping me
• It just felt good – gas in the tank at the end
• Fuelling seemed to work, using salt tabs for the first time ever due to the heat

Cons

• Uncomfortable foot pain (non-broken foot), felt like burning on the bottom of my foot. This is the second time this has happened during a ROTB recently so I think I’ll have to reconsider trainer choice for Austria.
• I figured I don’t really know where to keep my gels on the run, and need to try something else. Putting them down my top just led to chaffing
• My watch issue in the swim meant my watch was all out, but actually led to me running about 4/5 mins quicker than I thought I had
• No finish line photo